Back supports



United States Patent [72] Inventor Henry Ambrose The Garden Cottage,Warlield Park, Bracknell, Berkshire, England [2]] Appl. No. 738,552 [22]Filed June 20, 1968 [45] Patented Nov. 24, 1970 [32] Priority June 23,1967 33] Great Britain [31] 29,353/67 and 31,178/67 [54] BACK SUPPORTS 3Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

52 US. Cl 297/230, 297/284 [51] Int. Cl A47c 7/02 [50] Field ofSearch297/230, 231,284, 460, Velcro Digest, 458, 459, 312, 427, 219; 5/327 [56] References Cited Q UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,060,298 11/1936Gailey..... 297/230 2,081,111 5/1937 Manley 297/460 Primary Exam iner-Francis K. Zugel Attorney-Kurt Kelman ABSTRACT: A back supportcomprising; carrier means adapted to be affixed to the back supportingface of a back rest of a seat or chair; a back supporting bolster; meansfor releasably interconnecting said bolster to said means to enable sameto be placed in any one of a number of adjacent positions; such bolsterforming, with the carrier means and the back rest, a cradle into which aportion ofthe back ofa person may snugly lie.

Patented (W. 2, 17

Sheet of 2 Inventor H Rq AMBROS Patented Nov. 24; 1976 Sheet y Kwd mm.

motor car that fatigue is encountered due to lack of support to V theback of the person travelling. Such fatigue is particularly noticeablewhen support is lacking in the vicinity of the lumbar region of theback.

One object of this invention is to provide a support for positioning on.or adjacent, the back rest of a seat or chair which provides sufficientsupport for at least the lumbar region of a seated person's back tominimize such fatigue.

According to this invention there is provided a back support comprisingcarrier means adapted to be affixed to the back supporting face of aback 'rest of a seat or chair; a pair of back supporting bolsters; meansfor releasably interconnecting said bolsters to said means to enablesame to be placed in anyone of a number of adjacent positions; suchbolsters forming, with the carrier means and theback rest, a cradle intowhich a portion of the back ofa person may snugly lie.

An intermediary member is provided to which said carrier means issecured and such intermediary member may be releasably secured to theseat.

The intermediary member would normally comprise a rela tively thin sheetofmaterial. Such material may either be flexible or alternatively it maybe substantially rigid and may be preshaped substantially to conformwith the contour of a portion ofthe back ofa person for whom the supportis designed.

Any means may be provided for releasably interconnecting saidintermediary member and the seat such as, for example, a plurality ofstraps or alternatively at least one length of a malleable materialwhich may be deformed and shaped to provide a hooklike extension whichpasses over the back rest of the seat.

According to one feature of the invention said means for releasablyinterconnecting the bolsters to the carrier means may comprise ahook-and-pile fabric fastening material of the type manufactured andsold under the Trade Mark VELCRO.

Each such bolster carries a component of the VELCRO type material andthese bolsters may be interlocked with a mating component of such VELCROtype material which is secured to said intermediary member so that thebolsters may be releasably secured in any one ofa large variety of backsupporting positions so that the back rest may be used successively bymore than one person.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood threeembodiments of support in accordance with this invention will now bedescribed by way of example, and with reference to, the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a preferred form of back support adaptedto be releasably connected to the back rest of a motor car or like seat;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view ofa part of the supportof FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of a second embodiment ofsupport, this second embodiment of support having a rigid portionpremoulded to conform substantially with the shape of the back ofaperson for whom the support is designed.

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, the back support 1 comprises anintermediary member 2 comprising a pair of superposed padded flexiblesheets formed of a material such as leather or a plastics material suchas plasticised polyvinylchloride. One or both of such sheets may beperforated to enhance comfort. The upper edge portion of thisintermediary element carries a flap 4 also formed from a pair ofsuperposed sheets ofmaterial sewn together about their periphery.Between these sheets forming the flap 4 is located a pair of flat bars 5formed from a malleable material such as mild steel or a metal alloy, sothat when these bars are bent the flap provides a hooklike extensionwhich may be placed over the top of the back rest of a seat so that theintermediary member 2 lies adjacent the back supporting surface of aseat back rest. Sewn to a front face 6 of the intermediary member 2 aretwo rectangular pads 7, 8 of a material which forms one interlockingcomponent of the fastening material manufactured and sold under theTrade Mark VELCRO, this'material comprising two interlockable materialcomponents, the first component carrying a soft pile whilst the othercomponent comprises a dense array of small barbed hooks.

A pair of bolsters 9, 10 are provided and each comprises a pad ofresilient material which is encased by a sheet of flexible v coveringmaterial such as leather or plasticised polyvi nylchloride or anysuitable plastics material. Such bolsters 9, it) are shaped so that theyhave a generally triangulated cross section and with the intermediarymember 2 form a cradle for at least the lumbar region of the hack of aperson using the support.

The back surface of each of these bolsters 9, 10 carries a sheet 11 ofthe VELCRO- type material. Conveniently the bolsters 9, ll) carry thehooked component of the fastening material whilst the pads 7, 8 areformed of the soft pile component. The bolsters 9, it) are thusreleasably but firmly secured to the intermediary member 7.. It will beunderstood that the bolsters 9, 10 may be placed. in any one of a largenumber of different positions with respect to the intermediary member 2so that the user of the support may select, after sitting, the positionof the bolsters which is most comfortable.

In the second embodiment of FIG. .3 the back rest is very similar to theback rest of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception of the fact that theintermediary member 2 is not formed as a pair of flexible sheetsofmaterial but is formed by a preshaped substantially rigid sheet ofmaterial which may or may not be upholstered and padded. Such rigidmember specifically designated 2a is moulded from, for example, glassfibre or a suitable flexible plastics material and carries a pluralityof straps 12 by which it may be releasably, but firmly. connected to theback rest of a seat. The bolsters 9, 10 are adjustably secured to therigid member 2a by means of the VELCRO type material in the same manneralready described with reference to FIG. 1.

It will be understood that when it is desired to use the back supportsof FIGS. 1 to 3 it is merely necessary to secure the in termediarymember 2 to the back rest of the seat, to sit in the seat and to placethe bolsters 9, 10 in the appropriate positions on the intermediarymember for maximum comfort.

' It should be appreciated that bolsters of varying sizes and shapes maybe provided to ensure that a comfortable chair or seat is provided.

lclaim:

l. A back support for attachment to the transverse top edge of a backrest of a seat comprising:

1. a sheet member having two lateral and two transverse edges;

2. means on the sheet member for releasably securing the sheet member tothe transverse top edge of the back rest; said securing meansextendingfrom at least one of said transverse edges over the top edge of the backrest;

. a pair of resilient bolsters releasably secured to the sheet member inpositions selected so adjacent the lateral sheet member edges that thebolsters and the sheet member constitute a cradle to receive at leastthe lumbar portion of the back; and

4. carrier means releasably holding the bolsters on the sheet member,

a. the carrier means being constituted by a hook-and-pile fabricfastening material, one of the components of the fastening materialbeing affixed to the sheet member and the mating fastening materialcomponent being affixed to the bolsters.

2. The back support of claim 1, wherein the means for releasablysecuring the sheet member to the back rest comprises at least one lengthof a malleable strip material bendable into hook shape to fit over theback rest and thus adjustably to suspend the sheet member on the backrest.

direction of a respective one of the lateral sheet member edges toconstitute said cradle.

